Why do some boiled eggs easily come out of the shell and others seem to fuse to the shell?
In: 1895
If you chill the eggs in a ice bath they come out of the shell better. So I imagine it may be something to do with how quickly the egg is cooled down after cooking
It depends mostly on the age of the egg. Very fresh eggs stick more to the shell. Older eggs come out more easily.
As others have said the age of the egg is a significant factor… therefore farm fresh (newer) eggs may be more difficult to peel when hard boiled.
It’s the age of the egg. A new egg will have this effect, for shelling, eggs aged 7 days or more will have allowed air to get in between the shell and the membrane which makes peeling easier
People have been saying the age of the egg. In my experience (my parents have about 30 chickens), as long as you give the eggs an ice bath as soon as they’re done boiling, you’ll have eggs that peel in two halves. 🤷🏻♂️
my wife complains about getting the egg out but I never have any problems. I boil them, dump the water then fill up the pot with water and add ice and let it sit for about 3 minutes. Same eggs, different results.
It’s the age of the egg. You can tell by using a water test. Fill a cup with enough water to submerge the egg then put it in. A fresh egg lays flat on the bottom horizontally, an older egg will rest on its tip vertically, and a bad egg will float to the top.
You can “age” eggs by leaving them out at room temperature over night or so. Also when you boil them add a splash, like maybe a tablespoon of some kind of vinegar. I use rice vinegar, but I’m always making boiled eggs for things like ramen so I have rice vinegar on hand.
The easiest way to get perfect boiled eggs is to start with a cold pot of water, put it on medium heat, then when it comes to a boil turn it off and put a lid on the pot and let it rest for 15 minutes. After that put the eggs in a cold water bath to shock them.
To easily peel them you gently crack the shell all around then pull the bottom off just enough that you can get a spoon in. Then twist the egg around the spoon. The spoon should glide just under the shell and easily take the whole thing off.
Kenji Lopez-Alt, author of The Food Lab, extensively tested this. It is not about the age of the egg (and I believe he tested hundreds of eggs). If you put the egg in the pot once the water has already reached a boil, it is easier to peel than if you put it in the pot from the beginning. Meaning, don’t slowly bring the eggs up to temperature along with the water. Since I read this it has worked for me every single time.
Lots of good tips here. Trying to consolidate;
Older eggs peel better, more air between the yolk and shell
Quickly adding them to an ice bath after boiling helps, the shell is rigid, and won’t shrink as much as the inside.
Gently crack the shell all around before peeling (start at the fat end, tapping on the edge of the bowl your ice bath is in, and roll the the egg firmly around in your palm, shell should slide right off)
Add your eggs to the water before bringing it up to a boil. Warm eggs boil better than cold. Bring to a boil, then cover and cut the heat, let cook for up to 10m for a firm yolk, less so for a softer or even runny yolk
Edit; I missed a crucial part of the boiling process. *Don’t* boil the eggs for 10m unless your car needs new ball bearings
Check out Kenji Lopez-Alt on YouTube. The man’s done a lot of work learning how to boil and peel eggs. Turns out age isn’t nearly as big a factor as most of us used to think. It’s more about technique. The big thing is putting them into a hot environment quickly rather than heating them on a cold bath. Best is steamed but you can also boil so long as you don’t overload the bath, which could lower the temp too much and mess up the timing.
[He’s also got this article on serious eats.](https://www.seriouseats.com/perfect-boiled-eggs-recipe)
Latest Answers